The present invention relates to enclosures for objects such as tools, equipment and machinery, and in particular to an extendible enclosure which can be varied in size.
It is commonly known to place cages, guards or other forms of enclosures around tools, equipment and machinery for safety and/or security reasons. Moving parts of equipment or machinery can pose a potential hazard for users or passers-by, and so it is always desirable to prevent access to the equipment or machinery to avoid harm. In addition, many pieces of machinery generate heat, and indeed some devices, such as space heaters or hot air blowers etc., are specifically intended to provide a flow of hot air to the environment in which they are located. In such applications, it is therefore also very desirable to prevent inadvertent access to the heater or touching of the surfaces of the heater to avoid burns etc.
For similar reasons, it is also useful to enclose electrical generators and welding inverter equipment, as in addition to possible moving parts and hot components, electrical current flows may pose electric shock risks if a person inappropriately comes into contact with the equipment.
To avoid such risks, many manufacturers of equipment provide bespoke cages to fit the machinery or device, which although serve to avoid contact with the equipment are limited to only that specific machinery or device. Therefore, to consistently ensure safety, it is usually necessary to purchase a bespoke cage for every tool or piece of machinery, which may be prohibitively expensive if there is a large amount of equipment to enclose.
Moreover, if the equipment is subsequently updated or replaced, it is normally the case that the original bespoke cage will now no longer fit, and so a further cage will usually be required to be purchased. The equipment owner then has the option to either, not replace the cage (and potentially jeopardise health and safety) or face the prospect of a further expensive outlay to ensure that safety is maintained.